Here's a deeply silly and pointless, but unaccountably entertaining meme:
Go to Wikipedia and answer the questions by clicking the "random article" link in the left corner. (Snippets of the article appear after the question, with my own comments in italics.)
01. What are you afraid of?
My Favorite Summer 1956 is a book by Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle.
I've never met a book I was afraid of yet, but baseball does make me sort of unaccountably nervous.
02. What would you take with you on a deserted island?
A survivalist is a person who anticipates and prepares for a future disruption in local, regional or worldwide social or political order.
This is, in fact, exactly what I would want to take with me to a desert island!
03. What would you want for a wedding present?
Henry M. "Mickey" Michaux, Jr. is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's thirty-first House district, including constituents in Durham County.
Erm, so I guess he's invited to this hypothetical wedding of mine, but I really have no interest in keeping him.
04. What do you worship?
Phoxichilidiidae is a family of sea spiders.
We're a very small cult. So far.
05. What is your secret fetish?
At Death's Door is an independent short film featuring Cillian Murphy. It is about a boy who is urged to carry on his father's job-which is being Death.
Film about death are soooo sexy!
06. What will you dream about tonight?
Gordon Duncan (1964-2005) was one of a young generation of Scottish pipers who opened up the piping scene to a more innovative approach.
Good thing I actually like bagpipes, since I imagine a dream soundtrack featuring them would be unbearable if I didn't.
07. What would you buy if you had the money?
Defibrillation is the definitive treatment for the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Defibrillation consists of delivering a therapeutic dose of electrical energy to the affected heart with a device called a defibrillator.
How much does a defibrillator cost, anyway?
08. What subject would you write a book about?
Truskavets (Ukrainian: Трускавець, translit. Truskavets’; Polish: Truskawiec) is a city in western Ukraine's Lviv Oblast (province), near the border with Poland.
This book is going to require a lot of research.
09. What do you collect?
Important Records is a record label that was created in 2001 after the management collapse of a popular North East record shop.
There may be some important records in my collection, but I don't think there are any Important Records.
10. What does your best memory connect to?
Remioromen is a Japanese rock band group formed in 2000.
How my best memory connects to that, I have no idea. But I'm sure it does somehow. Probably via Kevin Bacon.
11. The most unimportant thing you can think of?
Joone is an award winning director and producer of porn films and founder of the company Digital Playground. He is considered a ground-breaker in the world of interactive adult technology, pioneering the Virtual Sex line of DVDs. He also directed the successful porn film Pirates.
Actually, I can think of several things that I'd regard as less important than pirate porn.
12. What do you most preferably speak about?
Josh Winiberg is an English composer and pianist. Born in Essex on May 9th 1987, he composed his first solo piano album, Sunrise, at just 16 years old.
Yeah, there's just no shutting me up about that guy.
13. With which thing will/do you work with?
Roecliffe is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A1 road motorway and 1 mile west of Boroughbridge.
Funny, I wouldn't imagine there'd be much call for radio telescope operators there.
14. What always makes you laugh?
Santana do Mundaú is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its population was 11,235 (2005) and its area is 224 km²
Yeah, that place is a hoot! Those wacky Brazilians!
15. And cry?
The Tech, first published in 1881, is the oldest and largest campus newspaper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Yeah, New Mexcio Tech's crappy campus paper can't compete with that. It is to weep.
16. What was the first thing you saw when you woke up today?
Bentley Wood (grid reference SU250295), together with the adjacent Blackmoor Copse, form one of the largest contiguous areas of woodland in Wiltshire, England.
Why I woke up in the woods in Wiltshire, England, I don't know. Must've been some party last night.
17. What have you got in your pocket?
1715 in Poetry:
Events
* Nicholas Rowe made British Poet Laureate
Works published
* Alexander Pope, translator of Homer's Iliad, Book I, followed by Books II in 1716, III in 1717, IV in 1718, and V-VI in 1720.
* Isaac Watts, Divine Songs for the Use of Children, including "How doth the little busy Bee"
I like to always keep a book in my pocket, if I can. Usually not 18th Century poetry, though, I'll admit.
18. What could replace you so that no one would notice?
With the Tides is the third album by British band South, first released in 2003.
I had no idea these people sounded so much like me.
19. What were your first words?
Peter Fisher is an Australian film and television actor, born in Cartwrights Hill, New South Wales 9 January 1955.
Surprised the hell out of my parents, I can tell you.
20. What will you be buried with?
Küçükköyspor is a sports club located in Istanbul, Turkey. The football club plays in the Iddaa League B.
Why I'm going to be buried with a Turkish soccer team is perhaps a question best not considered too closely.
21. What have you got in the drawer of your bedside table?
Loreto is a city in the southwest of the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It has 9,854 inhabitants as per the 2001 census, and is the head town of the Loreto Department.
I had to shrink it down, of course. All part of my evil plan!
22. What do you love the most in this world?
The District of Potisje (Serbian: Potiski krunski dištrikt or Потиски крунски диштрикт) was an administrative unit of the Habsburg Monarchy. It was formed in 1751 with headquarters in Bečej, and existed for almost one century (until 1848).
I haven't been the same since 1848. *sniffle*
23. What would you write a song about for the next Eurovision Song Contest?
Loreto is a 1st class municipality in the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 31,365 people in 5,572 households.
How could that not guarantee me a win?
24. What do you see from the window at this moment?
Deviated Instinct, formed in 1984, were a pioneering British crust punk band. Their debut EP, Welcome to the Orgy, was released by Peaceville Records, which released the majority of their albums.
I really wish they'd get out from under my window. They're starting to scare me.
25. What are you in reality?
Lanny J. Davis (b. ?1946) is a lawyer and former Special Counsel to the President for Bill Clinton. He served as special counsel from 1996 to 1998, during which time he also was the spokesman for Clinton in issues regarding campaign finance investigations and other legal issues. He is a partner in Washington DC office of the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, and is a graduate of Yale Law School.
Drat! My secret identity is revealed!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Me And Stephen Colbert
What Form Would Your Patronus Take? (With 10 Excellent Results & Pictures)
Your Patronus would be an Eagle!
Take this quiz!
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Monday, July 30, 2007
There Are Strong Currents In My Topic Drift.
Apparently every Harry Potter conversation I have eventually turns into a Doctor Who conversation. I'm not entirely sure what that means.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Like A Bat Out Of Hell
Your Score: Atheist
Holy Crap! You're taking -90 souls with you to hell!
-116 to -85
On the plus side: You dont believe in ANYTHING! You look at things objectively and search for the truth wihtout having to resort to crazy magical ideas. You're probably smarter than a lot of the population too
On the negative side: You're probably arrogant, make fun of religion, disgruntled a lot, and self-important and think churches are just an excuse to get money out of people. But then again you may not be far from the truth
The Categories
Agnostic
Atheist
Buddhist
Christian
Fundamentalist
Hindu
Islam/Judaism
Sikh
Sunday Christian
Wiccan
| Link: The Very Offensive Religion Test written by youallwantme on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Minus 90? Does that mean I'm taking 90 souls out of hell? Cool! Well, it would be cool, if I believed in hell. Perhaps it's metaphorical.
And, Wow...
I can't believe I missed the opportunity to make a "Spock's Brain" joke in that last post. I am totally slipping.
Just In Case Star Trek Was Feeling Left Out of My Pop Cultural Landscape
It seems Zachary Quinto has now been cast to play the young Mr. Spock in the next Star Trek movie. I only know the guy from Heroes, but based on that... I dunno. You could do worse, I guess. He's got the eyebrows for it, if nothing else. I still think the whole concept behind this movie is hideously misguided, though.
Meanwhile, Matt Damon has laid to rest persistent rumors about him playing Kirk. Ooh, let's see if I can figure out how to embed video here...
Meanwhile, Matt Damon has laid to rest persistent rumors about him playing Kirk. Ooh, let's see if I can figure out how to embed video here...
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Flushed With Success
My toilet is all fixed now. Yay! I'm sure you were all terribly worried about it.
As it happens, I was correct both in that a) I probably could have put things back together myself, and b) it was a good idea to have the professionals come and do it to ensure that it wouldn't break again. Turned out what happened was that a little washer thingy on the end of the hose (which I'm pretty sure I installed according to instructions when I replaced the fill valve thingy a couple of years ago) popped off, finally, under the pressure of all that H2O. Instead of just putting it back the way it was, which is what I probably would have done, the plumbers instead installed a new hose with the washer bit already very firmly attached. I'm not exactly thrilled about having to pay the money (which was fairly reasonable by plumbers' standards, but still non-trivial), but I'd say it was worth it both for peace of mind, given that if it had broken again while I wasn't home the results could have been deeply awful, and for me not having to spend an afternoon mucking around with a toilet.
As it happens, I was correct both in that a) I probably could have put things back together myself, and b) it was a good idea to have the professionals come and do it to ensure that it wouldn't break again. Turned out what happened was that a little washer thingy on the end of the hose (which I'm pretty sure I installed according to instructions when I replaced the fill valve thingy a couple of years ago) popped off, finally, under the pressure of all that H2O. Instead of just putting it back the way it was, which is what I probably would have done, the plumbers instead installed a new hose with the washer bit already very firmly attached. I'm not exactly thrilled about having to pay the money (which was fairly reasonable by plumbers' standards, but still non-trivial), but I'd say it was worth it both for peace of mind, given that if it had broken again while I wasn't home the results could have been deeply awful, and for me not having to spend an afternoon mucking around with a toilet.
Speaking of Spoilers...
God damn it, now there are Lost spoilers on the CNN home page? WTF?
(Note: the first link goes to the article, which I have not actually read, but if you want to be spoiled more than the headline and the picture already do, go for it.)
(Note: the first link goes to the article, which I have not actually read, but if you want to be spoiled more than the headline and the picture already do, go for it.)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
DRDelightful
On the upside, I got my plush DRD in the mail today, and it it insanely huggable.
Now if only it was real and could fix my toilet...
Now if only it was real and could fix my toilet...
Apres Moi Le Deluge
I've discovered a new Really Not Good Way to Wake Up: being jolted into consciousness by a sudden, continuous, loud whooshing roaring sound coming from your bathroom. Or, more specifically, from a hose in your bathroom that used to be attached to your toilet.
I have no idea how this happened. My first inclination to blame the cats, but as far as I can tell, none of them are particularly wet.
Fortunately, no great damage was done, other than to my sleep, as I was able to get the water shut off before the flooding grew too dire. I've been debating whether to take the toilet apart and try to fix whatever-went-wrong myself, but upon reflection, it's entirely possible that whatever the hell happened, it is at least partially traceable to something I did the last time I tried to fix the toilet. So I'm thinking I'm gonna call a plumber.
I have no idea how this happened. My first inclination to blame the cats, but as far as I can tell, none of them are particularly wet.
Fortunately, no great damage was done, other than to my sleep, as I was able to get the water shut off before the flooding grew too dire. I've been debating whether to take the toilet apart and try to fix whatever-went-wrong myself, but upon reflection, it's entirely possible that whatever the hell happened, it is at least partially traceable to something I did the last time I tried to fix the toilet. So I'm thinking I'm gonna call a plumber.
Farscape News... Sort Of
TV Guide now has a short article about the forthcoming Farscape "webisodes," featuring some comments from Brian Henson. Not much in the way of information there, though, except for the fact that they're going to be 3-6 minute snippets, which is much less than I was hoping for. (I was thinking we'd get ten minutes, at least!)
But apparently he is hoping that it'll lead to more and better things, which is what I've been hoping for, too. *keeps fingers crossed*
But apparently he is hoping that it'll lead to more and better things, which is what I've been hoping for, too. *keeps fingers crossed*
Monday, July 23, 2007
I Take No Responsibility for Any Spoilers That May Appear In The Comments.
Oh, and, yes, I have now finished the Harry Potter, so you may now talk to me about it here if you wish.
I liked it well enough, although it probably says something about me that my main reaction was to wonder, with a sense of amused curiosity, which bits the Doctor cried at.
I liked it well enough, although it probably says something about me that my main reaction was to wonder, with a sense of amused curiosity, which bits the Doctor cried at.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Geek Shopping!
I couldn't resist. I had to buy one of these.
(Also: I have my copy of the new Harry Potter book. Haven't started it yet, though. Anybody who spoils me before I finish will get a DRD sicced on them.)
(Also: I have my copy of the new Harry Potter book. Haven't started it yet, though. Anybody who spoils me before I finish will get a DRD sicced on them.)
Friday, July 20, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Linear Thinking
Your Score: Linear B
You scored
You are Linear B. Even those who can follow you think you're all Greek to them. Which, after all, is true - Linear B being the first known text for written Greek. To most people, you're incomprehensible. But what do you care? You're tough, hard, long-enduring and have greater nobility than most. Naturally, you don't admit to borrowing extensively from your brother Linear A.
| Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
I Could Go For A Cheezeburger.
Your Score: Cheezburger cat
52 % Affection, 54 % Excitability , 53 % Hunger
| Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Well, Frell Me Dead!
OK, this, if true, is the most exciting piece of SF-TV related news I've heard in ages. (And given some of the stuff Doctor Who's done in recent weeks, that's saying something.)
I quote from what is purported to be a press release from the Sci Fi Channel:
Of course, even while I'm all excited, I'm also nervous... Surely, there are at least a hundred ways to screw that up?
I quote from what is purported to be a press release from the Sci Fi Channel:
FARSCAPE WEB SERIES
It's the return everyone's been frelling waiting for! SCIFI.COM has ordered a 10-part webisode series based on the multi-award-winning Farscape, the fan and critical darling that has been widely recognized as one of the greatest sci-fi series in television history. Executive produced by Brian Henson and Robert Halmi, Jr., and produced by The Jim Henson Company, in association with RHI Entertainment, the series will revive and expand the beloved Farscape universe.
Of course, even while I'm all excited, I'm also nervous... Surely, there are at least a hundred ways to screw that up?
Friday, July 13, 2007
Another Year Already?
But I don't want to be thirty-six! I'd sort of gotten used to being thirty-five.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
...And Random Computer-Related Bitching
Ah. So, when they say "upgrade iTunes," apparently what they actually mean is "downgrade iTunes." Good to know. May have been better to know before I did it, though.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Random Post of Whineage
Aaargh. I'm having a hell of a time switching off night shift. No matter when I go to bed, I wake up at 3 PM. Last night I went to bed at 4:00, tossed and turned until after dawn... and, yep, woke up at 3 PM. And then, of course, it was absolutely, vitally necessary to spend an hour and a half drinking coffee and surfing the internet before I felt remotely ready to face the world. Which would be fine, except that I've still got to go and put in a day's work. And I don't want to, if only because there are non-work things I really need to do, having put them off yesterday while I was sitting around watching DVDs, or whatever the hell it was I actually did yesterday.
And I still haven't called to see about getting my roof fixed after it started leaking again last week.
Sigh. There are times when I really do long for existence as a brain in a jar. I'd be so much better at it than I am at pretending to be a functional human being. Barring that possibility, I'm starting to think it may be time for one of those take-off-work-but-don't-go-anywhere mental health vacations...
And I still haven't called to see about getting my roof fixed after it started leaking again last week.
Sigh. There are times when I really do long for existence as a brain in a jar. I'd be so much better at it than I am at pretending to be a functional human being. Barring that possibility, I'm starting to think it may be time for one of those take-off-work-but-don't-go-anywhere mental health vacations...
Sunday, July 08, 2007
A Very Brief TV-Watching Update
I will say, Supernatural does get a lot more interesting as it leads up to the first-season finale...
*goes off to watch it*
*goes off to watch it*
Well, That's It. There's No Point In Me Reading The Book Now.
 | My Harry Potter Spoiler of Doom is: Moaning Myrtle kills Draco Malfoy in the lounge, with the candlestick Get your Harry Potter Spoiler of Doom |
Friday, July 06, 2007
Drifting With The "Currently"
Current clothes: Black t-shirt with a picture of the Milky Way galaxy and an arrow saying "you are here." Blue jeans. Black belt. White socks. Black sneakers.
Current mood: Pretty good. Especially by contrast with yesterday, when I was feeling all cranky and irritable and full of vague existential angst. I think the difference is almost entirely attributable to the fact that I got plenty of sleep today. It's almost frightening how dependent my mental state is on my sleeping patterns.
Current music: I've been listening to randomly-generated playlists again. Most recently played: an extended version of the theme song to Angel.
Current annoyance: My eyeglass frames are slightly out of alignment, and my roof is leaking again. And all that helpful, restorative sleep I got today occurred during precisely the hours when I could have done anything about those problems.
Current thing: Being even more obsessive than usual over Doctor Who.
Current desktop picture: This wallpaper from the BBC's official Doctor Who website, featuring the Doctor and a guest character who shows up toward the end of the season.
Current book: The World According to Garp, since I didn't get to it on my trip. It's taking me forever to read it, though. I keep getting distracted by random shiny things. Like Doctor Who.
Current song in head: "I Can't Decide" by the Scissor Sisters. Which is also Doctor Who's fault, damn it.
Current DVD in player: Disc 5 of season one of Supernatural. Having seen most of the season now, I still think the premise is interesting, and I still like the characters, but I just really haven't been able to get all that into it. Which is kind of sad, as it seems to be a lot of Farscape fans' new televisual obsession of choice, and I was kind of hoping I'd be able to follow them there.
Current refreshment: Nothing at the moment. I had some lemon-ginger green tea a little while ago. That was very nice.
Current worry: That the goddamn roof is going to keep deciding to start leaking about once a year, which does seem to be its current pattern. And I'm not sure if it's still under warranty any more, either.
Current thought: "I can't decide whether you should live or die..." Damned supervillains and their evil plots to get songs stuck in people's heads.
Current mood: Pretty good. Especially by contrast with yesterday, when I was feeling all cranky and irritable and full of vague existential angst. I think the difference is almost entirely attributable to the fact that I got plenty of sleep today. It's almost frightening how dependent my mental state is on my sleeping patterns.
Current music: I've been listening to randomly-generated playlists again. Most recently played: an extended version of the theme song to Angel.
Current annoyance: My eyeglass frames are slightly out of alignment, and my roof is leaking again. And all that helpful, restorative sleep I got today occurred during precisely the hours when I could have done anything about those problems.
Current thing: Being even more obsessive than usual over Doctor Who.
Current desktop picture: This wallpaper from the BBC's official Doctor Who website, featuring the Doctor and a guest character who shows up toward the end of the season.
Current book: The World According to Garp, since I didn't get to it on my trip. It's taking me forever to read it, though. I keep getting distracted by random shiny things. Like Doctor Who.
Current song in head: "I Can't Decide" by the Scissor Sisters. Which is also Doctor Who's fault, damn it.
Current DVD in player: Disc 5 of season one of Supernatural. Having seen most of the season now, I still think the premise is interesting, and I still like the characters, but I just really haven't been able to get all that into it. Which is kind of sad, as it seems to be a lot of Farscape fans' new televisual obsession of choice, and I was kind of hoping I'd be able to follow them there.
Current refreshment: Nothing at the moment. I had some lemon-ginger green tea a little while ago. That was very nice.
Current worry: That the goddamn roof is going to keep deciding to start leaking about once a year, which does seem to be its current pattern. And I'm not sure if it's still under warranty any more, either.
Current thought: "I can't decide whether you should live or die..." Damned supervillains and their evil plots to get songs stuck in people's heads.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The British Are Coming!
Independence Day may be just around the corner, but come July 6th, the British will be back! Yes, that's right, Doctor Who starts back up on the Sci Fi Channel this Friday! For those of my fellow Americans who've had the patience (or suffered under enough technical limitations) to wait instead of obtaining this season's episodes by swifter, albeit more legally dubious, means, let me just say that you have a hell of an interesting (if perhaps slightly bumpy) ride ahead of you.
And, I must admit, I'm sort of chuckling evilly, because I find myself thinking that I could tell you stuff that happens, quote you lines of dialog, describe certain images that, while out of context, would be the absolute, literal truth of what's on the screen, and you would be absolutely certain I was making shit up. But I'm not going to do that, of course... If the rest of the internet hasn't spoiled you already, there's no way I'm going to do it here.
And, I must admit, I'm sort of chuckling evilly, because I find myself thinking that I could tell you stuff that happens, quote you lines of dialog, describe certain images that, while out of context, would be the absolute, literal truth of what's on the screen, and you would be absolutely certain I was making shit up. But I'm not going to do that, of course... If the rest of the internet hasn't spoiled you already, there's no way I'm going to do it here.
Friday, June 29, 2007
I Don't Know Why I Don't Go To Extremes...
| Pessimist, optimist or realist? Realist You don't let things get you too down, or too up. You're an Even Steven and you stay away from extremes. |
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Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Summer Is Icumen In
Apparently it turned into summer while I was away. And, gaah, does New Mexico do summer! I think it got up to 100 yesterday. Probably about the time I was walking in to work; I actually felt slightly sick by the time I got there. Not that this is going to stop me from walking. The evil weather will not defeat me! Not even if the sun attempts to mummify me where I stand!
But, geez. Walking home at 11:30, and it was still uncomfortably hot. I think spending a week in Delaware turned me into a weather wimp. Well, at least my skin has now remembered how to tan rather than burn. My arms were pasty-pale when I got back (and then, briefly, slightly pink), and now they're golden-brown. And this despite the fact that I've actually remembered to wear sunblock a few days this week.
But, geez. Walking home at 11:30, and it was still uncomfortably hot. I think spending a week in Delaware turned me into a weather wimp. Well, at least my skin has now remembered how to tan rather than burn. My arms were pasty-pale when I got back (and then, briefly, slightly pink), and now they're golden-brown. And this despite the fact that I've actually remembered to wear sunblock a few days this week.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Guh!
I watched last weekend's episode of Doctor Who approximately five hours ago, and I am still too keyed up over it to sleep. Possibly there really is a point at which my obsessions become unhealthy. Not that I can bring myself to care.
(Damn it. I may just have to go and watch it again. So hard to resist...)
(Damn it. I may just have to go and watch it again. So hard to resist...)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
What I Did On My Vacation, By Betty, Age 35
So, the family reunion thingy actually turned out to be quite pleasant. The state park where it was held was a really nice place, there were insane amounts of food, and I got to catch up with people I hadn't seen, in some cases, for many, many years. And, man, there's something about encountering a whole group of people that you grew up with after that kind of a time lapse that leaves you with a profound sense of, I don't know, the passing of time, the progression of human generations, that sort of thing. Many of my grandmother's generation are gone and were only present in memories and photographs. My mother's generation is visibly growing old, however gracefully. My younger cousins have morphed into adults, some of them bearing an eerie resemblance to my childhood memories of their parents. And there's a whole new generation of small children who don't yet look like much of anybody. This is simply what happens, of course, and there's nothing surprising in it. When it happens around you, you barely even notice, but when you come back to see that it's happened while you weren't looking, it's kind of a shock. Not in a bad way, necessarily. It's just odd.
Anyway, what else? Well, I did visit the historic section of Philadelphia with my mother and grandmother, which is something I almost never did while I lived in the area. I can thus report from personal experience that the Liberty Bell does, indeed, still have a huge-ass crack.
So, that was all cool, although I do have to say that I really should have left a day or so earlier than I did... Anti-social introvert that I am, when I'm around a lot of people -- especially really talkative people -- for long enough, I start to get over-sensitive and irritable. Contemplating the plane flight back really didn't help, either. I hate air travel. I'm not a nervous flier or anything, I just find it incredibly tedious and draining, and the older I get the more cramped and claustrophobic those tiny little airplane seats make me feel. The only thing to be said for it is that at least it's better than driving... Which, given that I also have an hour's drive to and from the airport, doesn't actually make me feel any better. Anyway, all that adds up to, I think, me not being terribly good company on Tuesday.
But eventually I got home, much to the relief of my cats. Well, actually, at first they seemed pretty freaked out, like they weren't quite sure I was really me. And then once they decided I wasn't some sort of evil imposter, they all seemed determined to keep a constant eye on me for several hours, presumably fearing that I was about to up and leave again. When I failed to do that, Vir-kitty proceeded to make a pretty good attempt at cuddling me for twelve hours straight. Awww.
By the way, for anyone who's actually interested, I did get a little time to read while I was there, as well as a lot of time on the plane and in various airports, so the only books I didn't get to were Bad Astronomy and The World According to Garp. Although I haven't finished White Night yet.
One random observation: I am coming to the conclusion that, despite conventional wisdom, sometimes it is the heat and not the humidity. While I was back East, everybody was complaining about how hot and muggy it was, especially my mother, who currently lives in an even drier climate than I do. But, you know, it honestly didn't really seem particularly hot to me at all. (I think it maybe got up into the low nineties.) And the humidity was only mildly uncomfortable. In fact, it actually felt kind of pleasant to be breathing air with a bit of moisture to it, even if it was disconcerting to have to spend several minutes toweling off after a shower. In contrast, as soon as I walked out of the airport in Albuquerque, I felt like I'd stepped into a blast furnace, and in the few minutes it took me to get my luggage unloaded from the airport shuttle and to get into my car, my forearms, taken by surprise after a week spent under a muffling blanket of clouds, burned themselves pink. It's odd, though, because the humidity used to really bother me, back when I lived there. Maybe the effect is offset by the amount of extra oxygen I'm getting at sea level, I don't know.
Actually, here's another random observation: My family is incredibly unimaginative when it comes to names. I've never had the experience of having three Bettys in the same place before, and it was damned confusing. I kept whipping around to answer people, only to realize they weren't talking to me at all. I have no idea how people with really common names manage.
Right. That's enough rambling. Time to go finish washing that suitcase full of dirty clothes I came back with.
Anyway, what else? Well, I did visit the historic section of Philadelphia with my mother and grandmother, which is something I almost never did while I lived in the area. I can thus report from personal experience that the Liberty Bell does, indeed, still have a huge-ass crack.
So, that was all cool, although I do have to say that I really should have left a day or so earlier than I did... Anti-social introvert that I am, when I'm around a lot of people -- especially really talkative people -- for long enough, I start to get over-sensitive and irritable. Contemplating the plane flight back really didn't help, either. I hate air travel. I'm not a nervous flier or anything, I just find it incredibly tedious and draining, and the older I get the more cramped and claustrophobic those tiny little airplane seats make me feel. The only thing to be said for it is that at least it's better than driving... Which, given that I also have an hour's drive to and from the airport, doesn't actually make me feel any better. Anyway, all that adds up to, I think, me not being terribly good company on Tuesday.
But eventually I got home, much to the relief of my cats. Well, actually, at first they seemed pretty freaked out, like they weren't quite sure I was really me. And then once they decided I wasn't some sort of evil imposter, they all seemed determined to keep a constant eye on me for several hours, presumably fearing that I was about to up and leave again. When I failed to do that, Vir-kitty proceeded to make a pretty good attempt at cuddling me for twelve hours straight. Awww.
By the way, for anyone who's actually interested, I did get a little time to read while I was there, as well as a lot of time on the plane and in various airports, so the only books I didn't get to were Bad Astronomy and The World According to Garp. Although I haven't finished White Night yet.
One random observation: I am coming to the conclusion that, despite conventional wisdom, sometimes it is the heat and not the humidity. While I was back East, everybody was complaining about how hot and muggy it was, especially my mother, who currently lives in an even drier climate than I do. But, you know, it honestly didn't really seem particularly hot to me at all. (I think it maybe got up into the low nineties.) And the humidity was only mildly uncomfortable. In fact, it actually felt kind of pleasant to be breathing air with a bit of moisture to it, even if it was disconcerting to have to spend several minutes toweling off after a shower. In contrast, as soon as I walked out of the airport in Albuquerque, I felt like I'd stepped into a blast furnace, and in the few minutes it took me to get my luggage unloaded from the airport shuttle and to get into my car, my forearms, taken by surprise after a week spent under a muffling blanket of clouds, burned themselves pink. It's odd, though, because the humidity used to really bother me, back when I lived there. Maybe the effect is offset by the amount of extra oxygen I'm getting at sea level, I don't know.
Actually, here's another random observation: My family is incredibly unimaginative when it comes to names. I've never had the experience of having three Bettys in the same place before, and it was damned confusing. I kept whipping around to answer people, only to realize they weren't talking to me at all. I have no idea how people with really common names manage.
Right. That's enough rambling. Time to go finish washing that suitcase full of dirty clothes I came back with.
I Must Not Be Trying Hard Enough.
Mingle2 - Online Dating
OK, OK... I really need to go and get a shower... and unpack... and do laundry... and stop posting memes...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
To Help Me Put Off Unpacking For A Few More Minutes... A Meme.
Mingle2 - Free Online Dating
I'm afraid it's only that high thanks to the fact that I own a giant Zombie-Smiting Wrench of Doom.
"Well, I'm Back."
Am home and in one piece. Cats are all alive. Am tired. Actual content, responses to comments and e-mails, etc., will happen, um, sometime.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
*blears groggily at the world*
Bah. Woke up far too early and couldn't get back to sleep. Am going to be completely wiped by the time the plane lands. Glad I don't have to drive from the airport afterward.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Off For A Bit
Tomorrow morning I'm heading off to that incredibly exciting travel destination: Delaware. I've been persuaded into attending this big family reunion party on Saturday -- the flyer advertised "many fun family activities," which I find vaguely scary -- and I'm going to hang out with the relatives for a few days before and after. Which means there probably won't be any updates here for a week or so, though, given my current posting frequency, it's possible nobody would actually have noticed.
As is traditional, here's the list of books I'm taking on my trip:
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
The Ethics of Star Trek by Judith Barad and Ed Robertson
Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
White Night by Jim Butcher
Bad Astronomy by Phil Plait
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Which I admit is overkill, even for me, but I have a pathological fear of being stuck in an airport or on a plane with nothing to read. And I could well end up with chunks of time to myself while I'm out there. You never know.
As is traditional, here's the list of books I'm taking on my trip:
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
The Ethics of Star Trek by Judith Barad and Ed Robertson
Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
White Night by Jim Butcher
Bad Astronomy by Phil Plait
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Which I admit is overkill, even for me, but I have a pathological fear of being stuck in an airport or on a plane with nothing to read. And I could well end up with chunks of time to myself while I'm out there. You never know.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
I Can Has Random Links?
Quantum Cats: Cat macros for physics geeks! It's funniest if you're familiar with a) cat macros and b) quantum physics, but, really, who isn't?
All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter: Exactly what the title says. Gives you a good, visual sense of what's to be found in our immediate celestial neighborhood.
Steam Trek: A Star Trek parody in silent movie format. Amazingly well done. I love the music.
Flikr Photoset: Creationist Museum, Kentucky, 2007: Photographic tour of the controversial new Creationist Museum, with many, many mocking comments.
Doctor Who vs. Jesus: Because if I'm going to post links mocking religious people, I might as well go all the way. Mind you, I do feel compelled to point out that "The Scarlioni" should really be either "Count Scarlioni" or "The Jaggeroth," depending on whether you're referring to him by his name or his species. (Why, yes, I am the world's biggest nerd. Thank you for asking.)
All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter: Exactly what the title says. Gives you a good, visual sense of what's to be found in our immediate celestial neighborhood.
Steam Trek: A Star Trek parody in silent movie format. Amazingly well done. I love the music.
Flikr Photoset: Creationist Museum, Kentucky, 2007: Photographic tour of the controversial new Creationist Museum, with many, many mocking comments.
Doctor Who vs. Jesus: Because if I'm going to post links mocking religious people, I might as well go all the way. Mind you, I do feel compelled to point out that "The Scarlioni" should really be either "Count Scarlioni" or "The Jaggeroth," depending on whether you're referring to him by his name or his species. (Why, yes, I am the world's biggest nerd. Thank you for asking.)
Friday, June 08, 2007
It's Currently Time To Do The "Current" Meme.
Current clothes: A t-shirt from Carlsbad Caverns. It's white with gray flecks, featuring cave formations outlined in purple inside some sort of turquoise design. Also some leaves or something, and a purple bat inside a circle. It's got one turquoise sleeve and one purple sleeve, too, which is mildly hideous, but fortunately you can't see those, because I'm wearing a blue denim shirt over it (unbuttoned). Also: jeans, black belt, white socks, black sneakers.
Current mood: Pretty good. I just had lunch or dinner or something, and am feeling pretty content.
Current music: Random playlists on the iPod again. I think the last song I listened to was something by the Beatles.
Current annoyance: My left knee's started hurting a little, off and on, while I'm walking. And I just told someone earlier today that my knees hadn't bothered me seriously in years, too. Mind you, that's not really all that coincidental, as I believe the reason I was thinking of that enough to say it is that both knees have felt very subtly odd lately, like they're sometimes collapsing sideways slightly as I walk. Stupid knees.
Current thing: Reading. Not that that isn't always my thing, but lately I seem to be reading in longer, more concentrated fashion than is usual in this era of constant distractions. Last week I read an entire novel in one sitting. Admittedly, it was a fairly short novel, but it's been a ridiculously long time since I last did that.
Current desktop picture: A photo of Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Wales, as seen in Doctor Who and Torchwood, which my sister took when she was there last month. Here, I don't think she'll mind me sharing it:
Current book: Finity by John Barnes. Very odd book. Definitely interesting, but odd. I'm taking it on faith that the plot will make sense eventually.
Current song in head: Jonathan Coulton's "First of May," which has been stuck in my head since approximately, um, the first of May.
Current DVD in player: Nothing at the moment, but most recently disc one of season one of Supernatural, which I've been watching because several people I know are hugely enthusiastic about it. Based on the first four episodes, I can say that I like the characters and that I think the premise has potential, but the stories aren't impressing me all that much.
Current refreshment: Moroccan Mint tea (green tea flavored with mint). Mmm, nice.
Current worry: Having to face airport security when I fly out next week to visit relatives. There are reasons I've been avoiding flying as much as humanly possible. I'm not afraid of terrorists or plane crashes, but I am kind of afraid of Homeland Security.
Current thought: The sun should be up soon. Once it is, I've got a couple of things I need to do in the daylight world before I go to sleep.
Current mood: Pretty good. I just had lunch or dinner or something, and am feeling pretty content.
Current music: Random playlists on the iPod again. I think the last song I listened to was something by the Beatles.
Current annoyance: My left knee's started hurting a little, off and on, while I'm walking. And I just told someone earlier today that my knees hadn't bothered me seriously in years, too. Mind you, that's not really all that coincidental, as I believe the reason I was thinking of that enough to say it is that both knees have felt very subtly odd lately, like they're sometimes collapsing sideways slightly as I walk. Stupid knees.
Current thing: Reading. Not that that isn't always my thing, but lately I seem to be reading in longer, more concentrated fashion than is usual in this era of constant distractions. Last week I read an entire novel in one sitting. Admittedly, it was a fairly short novel, but it's been a ridiculously long time since I last did that.
Current desktop picture: A photo of Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Wales, as seen in Doctor Who and Torchwood, which my sister took when she was there last month. Here, I don't think she'll mind me sharing it:
Current book: Finity by John Barnes. Very odd book. Definitely interesting, but odd. I'm taking it on faith that the plot will make sense eventually.
Current song in head: Jonathan Coulton's "First of May," which has been stuck in my head since approximately, um, the first of May.
Current DVD in player: Nothing at the moment, but most recently disc one of season one of Supernatural, which I've been watching because several people I know are hugely enthusiastic about it. Based on the first four episodes, I can say that I like the characters and that I think the premise has potential, but the stories aren't impressing me all that much.
Current refreshment: Moroccan Mint tea (green tea flavored with mint). Mmm, nice.
Current worry: Having to face airport security when I fly out next week to visit relatives. There are reasons I've been avoiding flying as much as humanly possible. I'm not afraid of terrorists or plane crashes, but I am kind of afraid of Homeland Security.
Current thought: The sun should be up soon. Once it is, I've got a couple of things I need to do in the daylight world before I go to sleep.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
I Don't Have To Wear That Get-Up, Do I?
Your Score: Shao Kahn
55% Evil, 75% Intelligence, 85% Common Sense
Shao Kahn is the current Emperor of Outworld, after having overthrown the former Emperor. Employing clever strategies and effective uses of his vast armies, he laid siege to dimension after dimension, conquering and then fusing them into Outworld itself. In recent times, he has set his sights on Earth (known as Earthrealm in Outworld), and has sent forth several of his minions to sow the seeds of chaos among Earthrealm to prepare for his eventual attack.
Shao Kahn has a rating of moderate evilness. His ability to plan his attacks and effectively manage the resources of the many fused realms of Outworld also reveals a moderate level of intelligence and a high level of common sense.
Quote:
You will die, mortal!Source of Overlord: Mortal Kombat
| Link: The Evil Overlord Test written by veqhturi on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Monday, June 04, 2007
Nobody Wants Another Gilligan's Island.
So, apparently Battlestar Galactica is going to be ending after next season, by mutual agreement between the producers and the network. This doesn't really surprise me at all... I know the show's creator, Ronald Moore, has repeatedly said that his intention was to tell a complete story and then stop. He did fairly recently say that he was looking at probably another two years, but, then, he's also said that he sees the series as a whole as having a traditional four-act structure, and that it's now heading into Act Four, which did lead me to wonder about the wisdom of having the fourth act be twice as long as the other three.
I know there are fans and critics out there lamenting the idea of the show going off the air so soon, but, personally, I think it's an excellent idea. And I'm not just saying that because I found the last season of BSG rather uneven, or because I'm a bit skeptical about the writers' ability to take last season's WTF ending and make sense of it. For a while now, I've been thinking that the British tradition of short seasonal runs and, in many cases, built-in expiration dates for shows has a lot to recommend it. It makes for much tighter story arcs, for one thing. Indeed, it was recently announced that Lost was going to follow this pattern from here on out, with three more seasons of 13 episodes each, and my only thought was that I wish they'd started earlier. The first half of this season could have been vastly improved by being chopped down significantly. And that's a show that needs a pre-planned ending if anything ever did.
In fact, if you've got a strongly arc-driven show -- and more and more of them are, nowadays -- my personal feeling is that you're probably much better off having a definite endpoint in sight. And if your show is structured around the characters striving after some particular goal -- "getting home" is a hugely popular one -- you really want to create a sense that the audience can actually expect them to meet that goal at some point, preferably before we've gotten so tired of watching them fail repeatedly that we don't care any more. Or before you get canceled without warning and don't have time to wrap things up with a proper ending. Mind you, it is possible to have your characters change goals and keep going -- Farscape did this brilliantly, shortly before meeting the "canceled without warning" fate -- but I think that's difficult to do well, and if it's done poorly, it comes across as artificial and unsatisfying. And a satisfying ending is better than an unsatisfying non-ending any day, if you ask me.
I know there are fans and critics out there lamenting the idea of the show going off the air so soon, but, personally, I think it's an excellent idea. And I'm not just saying that because I found the last season of BSG rather uneven, or because I'm a bit skeptical about the writers' ability to take last season's WTF ending and make sense of it. For a while now, I've been thinking that the British tradition of short seasonal runs and, in many cases, built-in expiration dates for shows has a lot to recommend it. It makes for much tighter story arcs, for one thing. Indeed, it was recently announced that Lost was going to follow this pattern from here on out, with three more seasons of 13 episodes each, and my only thought was that I wish they'd started earlier. The first half of this season could have been vastly improved by being chopped down significantly. And that's a show that needs a pre-planned ending if anything ever did.
In fact, if you've got a strongly arc-driven show -- and more and more of them are, nowadays -- my personal feeling is that you're probably much better off having a definite endpoint in sight. And if your show is structured around the characters striving after some particular goal -- "getting home" is a hugely popular one -- you really want to create a sense that the audience can actually expect them to meet that goal at some point, preferably before we've gotten so tired of watching them fail repeatedly that we don't care any more. Or before you get canceled without warning and don't have time to wrap things up with a proper ending. Mind you, it is possible to have your characters change goals and keep going -- Farscape did this brilliantly, shortly before meeting the "canceled without warning" fate -- but I think that's difficult to do well, and if it's done poorly, it comes across as artificial and unsatisfying. And a satisfying ending is better than an unsatisfying non-ending any day, if you ask me.
Friday, June 01, 2007
I Like Plants You Don't Have To Water.
My cactus is blooming! I figured I'd take a photo, because I haven't posted any in a while, and because I suddenly recall that, way back when I first got my camera and offered to take pictures of things for people, someone requested something along the lines of "local flora and fauna," and I never really complied with that. (Well, not unless the cats count, which I kind of doubt.) Anyway, here's some flora:
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what species that is, other than that it's some kind of cholla. (For those of you not used to Spanish-derived vocabulary, that's pronounced something like "choya.") Whatever it is, it's got very pretty purple flowers.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what species that is, other than that it's some kind of cholla. (For those of you not used to Spanish-derived vocabulary, that's pronounced something like "choya.") Whatever it is, it's got very pretty purple flowers.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Creature Of The Night
Reason why I prefer being nocturnal, #13: It's now officially getting to be Too Damned Hot during the day. I was walking around town, doing some daytime errands before bed this morning at about 9:30 or so, and it was already 80 degrees. Man, I thought it was unusually cool here for the end of May; turns out I was just sleeping through the non-cool hours. Bah! I do not like this strange thing you day folk call The Sun. And, man, it adds a whole extra layer of ick to too-warm morning hours when you've got lank hair and sweated-in clothes and everybody else is freshly dressed and still smells of shampoo.
I believe that I will not venture forth during the day again until I am forced to. Unfortunately, at some point I need to get my swamp cooler up and running, or it's going to be too hot even to sleep, and that's something that kind of needs to be done during the day. Damn it.
I believe that I will not venture forth during the day again until I am forced to. Unfortunately, at some point I need to get my swamp cooler up and running, or it's going to be too hot even to sleep, and that's something that kind of needs to be done during the day. Damn it.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Kitty Update
Because people keep asking how he's doing, and because the internet exists for people to talk about their cats (well, the parts that don't exist for porn), I thought I'd post an update on the state of no-longer-so-little Vir Catto.
To recap: Vir is the kitty I found mewing pitifully in my driveway in September of 2005, after his mother gave birth to him there and buggered off. Now, ever since he was a tiny scrap of a kitten, I've noticed that Vir's breathing sounded kind of loud and perhaps a little bit wheezy. Initially, it didn't seem very alarming, but as he's grown from being so tiny I had to weigh him on a postage scale into his current 21-pound-monster self, the noise grew, too, and in recent months I'd really begun to worry about it. Now, he's never really seemed sick. He doesn't cough; he doesn't sneeze or leak snot; he never seems to have attacks where he really can't catch his breath. But, more often than not, he sounds sort of like a slightly-squeaky Darth Vader. So I took him to the vet, and the vet thought he most likely had asthma and started him on a course of corticosteroids and a host of other drugs.
Well, none of that seemed to help at all, which surprised the vet a bit, because asthma is apparently very common in cats and is usually the answer when it's a chronic issue like this, but asthma pretty much always responds to steroids. So I took him back in to have them look into what I guess is the second most common cause of breathing issues in cats, which is heart trouble. I'm deeply relieved to be able to report that his little kitty heart seems to be absolutely fine. (And also, though far more incidentally, that an EKG for a cat costs rather less than I'd expected it to.)
The vet's current opinion is that, while it's not impossible that there's some sort of problem with his lungs, the most likely possibility is that there's some partial obstruction in his airway: a growth or a birth defect of some sort. He thinks it's kind of unlikely to be a polyp, as the noisy breathing seems to have started when he was a baby, and polyps tend to occur in adult cats. So he thinks it's very likely Vir has a slightly deformed palate or something. In which case, he'll probably just have to live with it, as surgery on that part of the body is apparently kind of difficult, and totally not worth it given that it's not really causing him any great distress.
Now, in a human, or even in a dog, what they'd do is take a flexible endoscope, thread it through the respiratory passages, and get a look at exactly what's going on in there. Apparently, though, it's difficult to find flexible endoscopes small enough to use on a cat. The vet said he has a rigid one that he could at least use to look at the inside of Vir's nose if I wanted, but that not being able to see any problems with that wouldn't really tell us anything. I decided not to bother. If a negative result would tell us nothing, and we wouldn't do anything about a positive result anyway, why put the poor critter through it? Unless, of course, he gets worse later and really is having trouble getting enough air. The vet said the only reason he could think of to want to know right now is if it was cancer, but that cancer in that part of the body is very hard to treat, anyway, so knowing might not make a lot of difference. And I rather doubt it's cancer, not if he has had it for that long.
So, yeah, I'm going to go with the "he's just got a weird nose" theory and stop worrying, unless he gives me some new reason to. I had been wondering for some time, actually, whether that might be the case, as I've never seen him show another single symptom of, well, anything. I've never even seen him do that stick-the-neck-out-and-wheeze thing that cats tend to do when they're having acute respiratory problems.
I have to say, I'm greatly relieved, as "Everything's probably pretty much OK and you don't need to do anything right now" is almost always one of my top preferred outcomes for things I've been worrying about.
To recap: Vir is the kitty I found mewing pitifully in my driveway in September of 2005, after his mother gave birth to him there and buggered off. Now, ever since he was a tiny scrap of a kitten, I've noticed that Vir's breathing sounded kind of loud and perhaps a little bit wheezy. Initially, it didn't seem very alarming, but as he's grown from being so tiny I had to weigh him on a postage scale into his current 21-pound-monster self, the noise grew, too, and in recent months I'd really begun to worry about it. Now, he's never really seemed sick. He doesn't cough; he doesn't sneeze or leak snot; he never seems to have attacks where he really can't catch his breath. But, more often than not, he sounds sort of like a slightly-squeaky Darth Vader. So I took him to the vet, and the vet thought he most likely had asthma and started him on a course of corticosteroids and a host of other drugs.
Well, none of that seemed to help at all, which surprised the vet a bit, because asthma is apparently very common in cats and is usually the answer when it's a chronic issue like this, but asthma pretty much always responds to steroids. So I took him back in to have them look into what I guess is the second most common cause of breathing issues in cats, which is heart trouble. I'm deeply relieved to be able to report that his little kitty heart seems to be absolutely fine. (And also, though far more incidentally, that an EKG for a cat costs rather less than I'd expected it to.)
The vet's current opinion is that, while it's not impossible that there's some sort of problem with his lungs, the most likely possibility is that there's some partial obstruction in his airway: a growth or a birth defect of some sort. He thinks it's kind of unlikely to be a polyp, as the noisy breathing seems to have started when he was a baby, and polyps tend to occur in adult cats. So he thinks it's very likely Vir has a slightly deformed palate or something. In which case, he'll probably just have to live with it, as surgery on that part of the body is apparently kind of difficult, and totally not worth it given that it's not really causing him any great distress.
Now, in a human, or even in a dog, what they'd do is take a flexible endoscope, thread it through the respiratory passages, and get a look at exactly what's going on in there. Apparently, though, it's difficult to find flexible endoscopes small enough to use on a cat. The vet said he has a rigid one that he could at least use to look at the inside of Vir's nose if I wanted, but that not being able to see any problems with that wouldn't really tell us anything. I decided not to bother. If a negative result would tell us nothing, and we wouldn't do anything about a positive result anyway, why put the poor critter through it? Unless, of course, he gets worse later and really is having trouble getting enough air. The vet said the only reason he could think of to want to know right now is if it was cancer, but that cancer in that part of the body is very hard to treat, anyway, so knowing might not make a lot of difference. And I rather doubt it's cancer, not if he has had it for that long.
So, yeah, I'm going to go with the "he's just got a weird nose" theory and stop worrying, unless he gives me some new reason to. I had been wondering for some time, actually, whether that might be the case, as I've never seen him show another single symptom of, well, anything. I've never even seen him do that stick-the-neck-out-and-wheeze thing that cats tend to do when they're having acute respiratory problems.
I have to say, I'm greatly relieved, as "Everything's probably pretty much OK and you don't need to do anything right now" is almost always one of my top preferred outcomes for things I've been worrying about.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
I Felt The Earth Move...
We had a nifty little earthquake here last night. I was sitting at my computer when I heard a sort of booming rumble and what sounded like the shade on one of my windows rattling. My first thought was an explosion, but a) the explosives range doesn't usually make a habit of testing at 11:00 PM, and b) the whole house then proceeded to shake in a very different way from the usual quick window-rattling of an explosion. The top of my computer desk actually vibrated for a few seconds, which was really fascinating to watch.
I know, I know, people in California are snickering at me right now for even considering this sort of thing newsworthy, but earthquakes are just unusual enough here to be exciting.
I know, I know, people in California are snickering at me right now for even considering this sort of thing newsworthy, but earthquakes are just unusual enough here to be exciting.
Getting My Alignment Checked
Your Score: Neutral-Good
78% Good, 42% Chaotic
Plane of Existence: Elysium, "Blessed Fields". Description: The plane of peace. Notable Inhabitants: Guardinals - noble immortal humanoids with bestial features.
Examples of Neutral-Goods (Ethically Neutral, Morally Good)
Cloud Strife (FFVII)
Boogenhagen (FFVII)
Mother Theresa
Ghandi
Sidhartha Gautama (the Buddha)
Gandalf
Bilbo & Frodo Baggins
Samwise Gamgee
Indiana Jones
The Dali Lama
Ben (O-Bi-Wan) Kenobi
Luke Skywalker
Harry Potter
Hermionie
Dumbledore
Often goes along with the laws and desires of the group as being the easiest course of action, but ethical considerations clearly have top priority. May pursue quite abstract goals. Often aloof and difficult to understand.
Will keep their word to others of good alignment
Would not attack an unarmed foe
Will not use poison
Will help those in need
May work with others
Indifferent to higher authority
Indifferent to organizations
Neutral Good "Pure Good"
"Benefactor"
A neutral good [person] will obey the law, or break it when he or she sees it will serve a greater good. He or she is not bound strongly to a social system or order. His or her need to help others and reduce their suffering may take precedence over all else. Neutral good [people] do good for goodness' sake, not because they are directed to by law or by whim.
This alignment desires good without bias for or against order.
Other Alignments and Tendencies (Tendenices are what you would more often sway towards; esp. for Neutrals):
0-39% Good, 0-39% Chaotic: Lawful-Evil
0-39% Good, 40-60% Chaotic: Neutral-Evil
0-39% Good, 61-100% Chaotic: Chaotic-Evil
40-60% Good, 0-39% Chaotic: Lawful-Neutral
40-60% Good, 40-60% Chaotic: True Neutral
40-60% Good, 61-100% Chaotic: Chaotic-Neutral
61-100% Good, 0-39% Chaotic: Lawful-Good
61-100% Good, 61-100% Chaotic: Chaotic-Good
| Link: The Alignment Test written by xan81 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Monday, May 21, 2007
I've Been Called That Before.
 | You scored as Goofy. Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You arn't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things.
Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com |
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Sure, Rub It In That I Have To Wait...
I just played back an answering-machine message from my sister, currently on vacation in the UK, in which she excitedly informed me that she was watching Doctor Who on BBC1 right now.
I love my sister.
I love my sister.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Well, At Least I Wasn't Sylar.
| Which Hereos Character are you? Your Result: Matt Parkman Matt is very confused about his power to read other people's minds. He is very passionate about both his family and his career and he sometimes goes overboard and he isn't very good at controlling himself or his powers. | |
| Claire Bennet | |
| Nathan Petrelli | |
| Niki Sanders | |
| Peter Petrelli | |
| Hiro Nakamura | |
| Issac Mendez | |
| Jessica Sanders | |
| Which Hereos Character are you? Make a Quiz | |
And, man, how incredibly freaking awesome has this show turned out to be? I am literally biting my nails waiting for the finale.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Hmm, Is That What The Inside Of My Mind Looks Like?
From the land of time-wasting internet memes, it is, apparently, a painting meant to match my personality:
Click here to create your own painting.
Click here to create your own painting.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Another Big Old Bunch Of Random Links
Wow, if it weren't for Star Wars and Blake's 7, this would be the Scientific Edition of Random Links...
Images of Earth from Planetary Spacecraft: Lots of pictures of home sweet home, taken from very far away.
Science in Two Minutes or Less: Discover magazine held a contest asking readers to explain string theory in a two-minute video. You can view the competitors and choose your own favorite. (I note that the physics club from my old alma mater, New Mexico Tech has an entry... They don't really explain string theory very well, or possibly at all, but, man, do they make me nostalgic for my college days.)
New Pictures of Jupiter: Amazing images of Jupiter and its moons taken from the New Horizons space probe.
Star Wars Gangsta Rap: Not worksafe, but surprisingly entertaining.
Blake's 7: Rebel: A new audio-play remake of the classic British SF TV series, presented in 5-minute segments. I've listened to the first three, and I think it's fairly well done given the limitations of the format, but, as a huge fan of the original, I can't keep my brain from constantly screaming out that it's wrong. It didn't happen like that! That character doesn't behave that way! And their voices are all wrong! I find, though, that if I imagine it as a dramatization of the "real" events produced many, many years later, I can relax and enjoy it better. I'm sure this says something about me.
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole: If you've ever wondered what you should do upon falling into a black hole in order to maximize your survival time before your inevitable doom, here's some helpful advice.
Inner Life of a Cell (short version, long version): Very cool computer-animated video illustrating some of the complicated goings-on inside a cell. The short version is three minutes or so, and consists entirely of nifty but somewhat baffling images. The long version is about eight minutes and features a narration involving a lot of polysyllabic words.
Images of Earth from Planetary Spacecraft: Lots of pictures of home sweet home, taken from very far away.
Science in Two Minutes or Less: Discover magazine held a contest asking readers to explain string theory in a two-minute video. You can view the competitors and choose your own favorite. (I note that the physics club from my old alma mater, New Mexico Tech has an entry... They don't really explain string theory very well, or possibly at all, but, man, do they make me nostalgic for my college days.)
New Pictures of Jupiter: Amazing images of Jupiter and its moons taken from the New Horizons space probe.
Star Wars Gangsta Rap: Not worksafe, but surprisingly entertaining.
Blake's 7: Rebel: A new audio-play remake of the classic British SF TV series, presented in 5-minute segments. I've listened to the first three, and I think it's fairly well done given the limitations of the format, but, as a huge fan of the original, I can't keep my brain from constantly screaming out that it's wrong. It didn't happen like that! That character doesn't behave that way! And their voices are all wrong! I find, though, that if I imagine it as a dramatization of the "real" events produced many, many years later, I can relax and enjoy it better. I'm sure this says something about me.
Maximizing Survival Time Inside the Event Horizon of a Black Hole: If you've ever wondered what you should do upon falling into a black hole in order to maximize your survival time before your inevitable doom, here's some helpful advice.
Inner Life of a Cell (short version, long version): Very cool computer-animated video illustrating some of the complicated goings-on inside a cell. The short version is three minutes or so, and consists entirely of nifty but somewhat baffling images. The long version is about eight minutes and features a narration involving a lot of polysyllabic words.
Friday, May 11, 2007
I'd Probably Like Chick Flicks A Lot More If They Were Geekier.
I appear to have finally figured out how to get in touch with my deeply buried romantic side, because I keep going back to look at this cartoon, and it keeps making me go "awww!" in exactly the way that I think the endings to romantic movies are supposed to and generally don't.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Comet Without A Heart
Well, someone did ask me about the book Heart of the Comet, which I mentioned the other day as prompting some reflections on why I no longer seem capable of enjoying hard SF, or at least the majority of it. And because, hey, if you can't plagiarize yourself, who can you plagiarize?, I figured I'd expand on my answer a bit and post it here.
So, I was reading this book, which is by popular SF writers Gregory Benford and David Brin, and which was published in 1986 in honor of the return of Halley's Comet. I kept meaning to read it then and for some reason never got around to it, but when I found it a couple of years ago at a library sale I picked it up. Hey, I may be slow about it, but I do tie up unfinished business from my youth eventually.
Anyway, reading it now I kept thinking -- as I often seem to these days -- that I would probably have liked the book much better if I'd read it when I was fifteen and much less, erm, discerning. Because it's not an intrinsically bad story, really, even if it is hugely far-fetched. (It involves a long-term expedition to the comet and, among other things, the discovery of alien life there.) But the writing -- which is really just bog-standard hard-SF writing -- grates on me. Example: the book contains a number of time-jumps, and the individual sections tend to start with some character looking around and thinking, basically, "Gosh, here it is, ten years later, and here are all the things that have changed..." Now, real people might occasionally think things like that, but if they do, they usually have some reason, other that that it's time to introduce the reader to the next bit of story. Here, it just doesn't sound remotely natural, and that's characteristic of the tone of the whole thing. The characters aren't really there to be characters, they're there because, well, you're supposed to have characters in a novel, I guess. And you're supposed to flesh them out and make them interesting, so everybody gets one or two character quirks and a bit of Significant Backstory, but it all feels, to me at least, very artificial. And the direction the book ultimately takes involves one particular character doing things not because they're the sorts of things any sane human being would do, but because the authors clearly thought it would be neat and would take the story to its desired conclusion. Probably what ultimately bothers me, really, is the sense that one could easily re-write all the characters, give them different personalities, different backstories, different relationships, and nothing significant would change, because that stuff is all just detail painted in between the supporting structures of the plot, rather than actually contributing to the shape of the story at all.
And, while I'm complaining, let me just point out one specific thing that drives me completely up a wall, which these guys do over and over and over in this book: using descriptions and epithets instead of character names, even when they're completely inappropriate in context. It's always "the Hawaiian woman" and "the tall Mauritanian," and so on, using people's nationalities and physical descriptions and job titles and such, regardless of whether those things are relevant to the subject at hand, or even the way the POV character would think of them at all. It gives one the impression that the writers are worried we're going to forget who these people are. Which, actually, is a very real danger, because the book's so full of so many forgettable people. Tip for authors: if you feel the compulsive need to keep reminding your readers which character is which, you have a serious problem with characterization.
Anyway, the point is, I'm finding it harder and harder to enjoy a book in which I find the characterization and the prose to be awkward and clunky, no matter how much interesting scientific speculation there is in it. And, of course, it's the scientific stuff that's the focus in hard SF, with hard SF writers usually just not caring as much about the characterization and the prose, as well as often not being very good at it if they do care. I also find, increasingly, that while I'm happy to read about planetary geology or theoretical starship engines at great length in non-fiction, long passages on such subjects make my eyes glaze over very rapidly in a novel.
I try to tell myself that, really, it's a case of different strokes for different folks, and these guys are just serving their audience, because there are a lot of people who are just there for the nifty ideas and aren't put off by the clunky exposition and stuff. But I can't help the fact that, in my heart of hearts, I think of it as just plain bad writing. And, OK, really, there's nothing intrinsically bad about plot-based, rather than character-based storytelling. But I don't see why it has to be an either-or thing.
I looked up some reviews of Heart of the Comet after I read it, and found one which suggested that it might make a good movie. I think I sort of agree. In fact, I think it would be much improved by being made into a movie, in much the same way that The Hunt for Red October was improved by it... Because in a movie, you can't have long expository passages about submarine engines; you have to focus on character, dialog, and moving the action along. Sadly, though, genuine hard SF movies are even rarer than well-written hard SF novels.
So, I was reading this book, which is by popular SF writers Gregory Benford and David Brin, and which was published in 1986 in honor of the return of Halley's Comet. I kept meaning to read it then and for some reason never got around to it, but when I found it a couple of years ago at a library sale I picked it up. Hey, I may be slow about it, but I do tie up unfinished business from my youth eventually.
Anyway, reading it now I kept thinking -- as I often seem to these days -- that I would probably have liked the book much better if I'd read it when I was fifteen and much less, erm, discerning. Because it's not an intrinsically bad story, really, even if it is hugely far-fetched. (It involves a long-term expedition to the comet and, among other things, the discovery of alien life there.) But the writing -- which is really just bog-standard hard-SF writing -- grates on me. Example: the book contains a number of time-jumps, and the individual sections tend to start with some character looking around and thinking, basically, "Gosh, here it is, ten years later, and here are all the things that have changed..." Now, real people might occasionally think things like that, but if they do, they usually have some reason, other that that it's time to introduce the reader to the next bit of story. Here, it just doesn't sound remotely natural, and that's characteristic of the tone of the whole thing. The characters aren't really there to be characters, they're there because, well, you're supposed to have characters in a novel, I guess. And you're supposed to flesh them out and make them interesting, so everybody gets one or two character quirks and a bit of Significant Backstory, but it all feels, to me at least, very artificial. And the direction the book ultimately takes involves one particular character doing things not because they're the sorts of things any sane human being would do, but because the authors clearly thought it would be neat and would take the story to its desired conclusion. Probably what ultimately bothers me, really, is the sense that one could easily re-write all the characters, give them different personalities, different backstories, different relationships, and nothing significant would change, because that stuff is all just detail painted in between the supporting structures of the plot, rather than actually contributing to the shape of the story at all.
And, while I'm complaining, let me just point out one specific thing that drives me completely up a wall, which these guys do over and over and over in this book: using descriptions and epithets instead of character names, even when they're completely inappropriate in context. It's always "the Hawaiian woman" and "the tall Mauritanian," and so on, using people's nationalities and physical descriptions and job titles and such, regardless of whether those things are relevant to the subject at hand, or even the way the POV character would think of them at all. It gives one the impression that the writers are worried we're going to forget who these people are. Which, actually, is a very real danger, because the book's so full of so many forgettable people. Tip for authors: if you feel the compulsive need to keep reminding your readers which character is which, you have a serious problem with characterization.
Anyway, the point is, I'm finding it harder and harder to enjoy a book in which I find the characterization and the prose to be awkward and clunky, no matter how much interesting scientific speculation there is in it. And, of course, it's the scientific stuff that's the focus in hard SF, with hard SF writers usually just not caring as much about the characterization and the prose, as well as often not being very good at it if they do care. I also find, increasingly, that while I'm happy to read about planetary geology or theoretical starship engines at great length in non-fiction, long passages on such subjects make my eyes glaze over very rapidly in a novel.
I try to tell myself that, really, it's a case of different strokes for different folks, and these guys are just serving their audience, because there are a lot of people who are just there for the nifty ideas and aren't put off by the clunky exposition and stuff. But I can't help the fact that, in my heart of hearts, I think of it as just plain bad writing. And, OK, really, there's nothing intrinsically bad about plot-based, rather than character-based storytelling. But I don't see why it has to be an either-or thing.
I looked up some reviews of Heart of the Comet after I read it, and found one which suggested that it might make a good movie. I think I sort of agree. In fact, I think it would be much improved by being made into a movie, in much the same way that The Hunt for Red October was improved by it... Because in a movie, you can't have long expository passages about submarine engines; you have to focus on character, dialog, and moving the action along. Sadly, though, genuine hard SF movies are even rarer than well-written hard SF novels.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
I'm Not A Virus, But I Am Feeling Pretty Malicious At The Moment.
That last post was actually composed several hours ago, but apparently in the middle of editing it, Google, in its infinite wisdom, came to the conclusion that I was some sort of evil piece of software, and cut me off. Even trying to go to the main Blogger webpage got me the following infuriating message:
Apparently it wasn't just me, as once I was able to get into the Blogger help forums -- not the world's easiest trick, since I couldn't get to the Blogger page to find the link for it -- I saw several other people complaining about the same thing.
But, gosh, you'd think they read that bit in the previous post saying I couldn't think of anything to be annoyed about and decided to provide something for me. I'm especially irritated since I lost all the edits I'd made to the post. Fortunately, I at least had the basic post itself, since I'd composed it in Notepad instead of the Blogger text box. But if there are any typos or awkward phrases in that last post, it's not my fault. The version I was going to use was much better. Really.
And, sigh, what with trying to figure out what the heck was going on there, I still haven't taken in the laundry, scooped the (now very smelly) cat boxes or cleaned the bathroom. At least I did get some food and called my sister.
We're sorry...Fuck you very much, Google. What am I, if not a user? And my PC is clean and healthy, thank you. Well, clean, anyway.
...but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.
We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.
We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.
Apparently it wasn't just me, as once I was able to get into the Blogger help forums -- not the world's easiest trick, since I couldn't get to the Blogger page to find the link for it -- I saw several other people complaining about the same thing.
But, gosh, you'd think they read that bit in the previous post saying I couldn't think of anything to be annoyed about and decided to provide something for me. I'm especially irritated since I lost all the edits I'd made to the post. Fortunately, I at least had the basic post itself, since I'd composed it in Notepad instead of the Blogger text box. But if there are any typos or awkward phrases in that last post, it's not my fault. The version I was going to use was much better. Really.
And, sigh, what with trying to figure out what the heck was going on there, I still haven't taken in the laundry, scooped the (now very smelly) cat boxes or cleaned the bathroom. At least I did get some food and called my sister.
Yes, It's Yet Another Meme, But At Least This Time It's One With Some Content.
I feel like I ought to apologize for the recent utterly content-free nature of this blog, not that I imagine anybody ever comes here looking for Deep Thoughts and Meaningful Insights. I blame day shifts, which seem to have the effect of pretty much shutting down my higher brain functions, as well as making my free time seem seriously constricted, what with having to have an actual bedtime. I did have some sort of not-quite-a-rant in my head about how I find I longer take much pleasure in the hard science fiction sub-genre (or at least the vast majority of it), prompted by reading Benford and Brin's Heart of the Comet, which I'm sure I would have liked much better if I'd read it in 1986 as I'd originally planned. But I never quite managed to care enough to organize my vague'n'scattered thoughts into a post. If anybody out there is actually interested in hearing about that, though, feel free to give me a prod and maybe later, when I'm sufficiently bored, I'll get around to it.
In the meantime -- heh, I nearly typed "in the memetime" -- here's that "currently" meme again.
Current clothes: Gray sweat pants. Black t-shirt that says "I'm blogging this." (Heh.) White crew socks. No shoes.
Current mood: Pretty good.
Current music: Most recently, some random-shuffle stuff on the iPod, none of which I really remember. Before that, the soundtrack from Shrek.
Current annoyance: Not too annoyed about anything today. Mainly because I don't have to work. Having to work for a living is probably the biggest annoyance in my life, but there's hardly much point to bitching about that.
Current thing: Up 'til this weekend, it was pretending, with some success but little enthusiasm, to be a day person. Fortunately, I'm back on evenings now, and after that I work nights for several weeks. This is in some respects an inconvenience, but I find it something of a relief. There are too many people around during the day. It makes me feel weirdly claustrophobic.
Current desktop picture: This picture of a lunar eclipse and a lighthouse.
Current book: Conservatize Me by John Moe, a non-fiction book about a guy from Seattle who finds himself drifting slightly from his lifelong liberal viewpoint and decides to explore that by steeping himself in red-state culture and Republican rhetoric, to see if it's possible to convert himself to conservatism. Moe's a pretty funny writer, so it's an entertaining read, and I think the book does make an actual contribution towards bipartisan understanding.
Current song in head: "Proud to Be an American" by Lee Greenwood. Because John Moe mentiones this song over and over and over in his book. Apparently listening to this damned song on continuous loop is a fundamental part of the American conservative experience. Moe and I both agree that that this song is utter drivel, and I may never forgive him for putting it back in my head. I am still traumatized by memories of being stuck in the car with my country-music-loving mother on long trips during which this freakin' song would be played approximately once every fifteen minutes. Aaargh! I keep attempting to eradicate it by playing the theme song to I Dream of Jeannie in my brain, which historically has a strong record of getting badly stuck in there and driving everything else out, but I have had only mixed success. Damn you, John Moe!
Current DVD in player: Disc two of season three of Stargate SG-1. So far, this seems to be kind of an uneven season, but Stargate fans assure me that it is, overall, a good one. The last episode I watched featured Jack O'Neill teaching alien children the meaning of fun, which isn't something I can really bring myself to feel good about.
Current refreshment: Nothing since I finished my morning coffee.
Current worry: Despite getting five doses per day of sundry medicinal concoctions, Vir doesn't seem to be improving any. He also doesn't particularly seem to be getting worse. But if he'd respond to the medication, they'd just diagnose him with asthma and I could stop worrying that he might actually have some sort of horrible affliction heretofore unknown to veterinary science.
Current thought: I'm hungry. And I need to get my laundry in off the line, call my sister, clean the bathroom, scoop the cat litter... I really ought to get off my ass and actually start doing stuff.
In the meantime -- heh, I nearly typed "in the memetime" -- here's that "currently" meme again.
Current clothes: Gray sweat pants. Black t-shirt that says "I'm blogging this." (Heh.) White crew socks. No shoes.
Current mood: Pretty good.
Current music: Most recently, some random-shuffle stuff on the iPod, none of which I really remember. Before that, the soundtrack from Shrek.
Current annoyance: Not too annoyed about anything today. Mainly because I don't have to work. Having to work for a living is probably the biggest annoyance in my life, but there's hardly much point to bitching about that.
Current thing: Up 'til this weekend, it was pretending, with some success but little enthusiasm, to be a day person. Fortunately, I'm back on evenings now, and after that I work nights for several weeks. This is in some respects an inconvenience, but I find it something of a relief. There are too many people around during the day. It makes me feel weirdly claustrophobic.
Current desktop picture: This picture of a lunar eclipse and a lighthouse.
Current book: Conservatize Me by John Moe, a non-fiction book about a guy from Seattle who finds himself drifting slightly from his lifelong liberal viewpoint and decides to explore that by steeping himself in red-state culture and Republican rhetoric, to see if it's possible to convert himself to conservatism. Moe's a pretty funny writer, so it's an entertaining read, and I think the book does make an actual contribution towards bipartisan understanding.
Current song in head: "Proud to Be an American" by Lee Greenwood. Because John Moe mentiones this song over and over and over in his book. Apparently listening to this damned song on continuous loop is a fundamental part of the American conservative experience. Moe and I both agree that that this song is utter drivel, and I may never forgive him for putting it back in my head. I am still traumatized by memories of being stuck in the car with my country-music-loving mother on long trips during which this freakin' song would be played approximately once every fifteen minutes. Aaargh! I keep attempting to eradicate it by playing the theme song to I Dream of Jeannie in my brain, which historically has a strong record of getting badly stuck in there and driving everything else out, but I have had only mixed success. Damn you, John Moe!
Current DVD in player: Disc two of season three of Stargate SG-1. So far, this seems to be kind of an uneven season, but Stargate fans assure me that it is, overall, a good one. The last episode I watched featured Jack O'Neill teaching alien children the meaning of fun, which isn't something I can really bring myself to feel good about.
Current refreshment: Nothing since I finished my morning coffee.
Current worry: Despite getting five doses per day of sundry medicinal concoctions, Vir doesn't seem to be improving any. He also doesn't particularly seem to be getting worse. But if he'd respond to the medication, they'd just diagnose him with asthma and I could stop worrying that he might actually have some sort of horrible affliction heretofore unknown to veterinary science.
Current thought: I'm hungry. And I need to get my laundry in off the line, call my sister, clean the bathroom, scoop the cat litter... I really ought to get off my ass and actually start doing stuff.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
Eep! And Yikes! And Whoa!
Tonight's episode of Heroes has made me all sort of... incoherently flail-y. In the good way.
Wow, but I think it's been a while since a TV show seriously did that to me.
Wow, but I think it's been a while since a TV show seriously did that to me.
Random Link Bonanza!
It's been a little while since I've done this, so I've got a bunch of 'em this time...
Futurama vs. Doctor Who: Two shows separated at birth? You decide! (Warning: contains possible spoilers for both shows, including episodes of Who not yet aired in North America.)
Boomshine: A highly mesmerizing, surprisingly beautiful, very simple flash game. See how big a chain reaction you can make!
Pros and cons of the top 20 Democratic presidential candidates: I know a lot of people who would vote for Optimus Prime.
Speaking of politics, Vote Petrelli! Or, y'know, don't, because he's kind of an ass, plus he [Heroes spoilers deleted].
Knut videos: The Berlin Zoo presents insanely cute video footage of the insanely cute polar bear cub, Knut.
Repertory theater artist Mike Daisey had his notes destroyed by an asshole protester during a performance, then tracked the guy down and talked to him. This man is my new hero. This, folks, is how to be a human being.
Uncomfortable Questions: Was the Death Star Attack an Inside Job?: Exactly what is the Imperial government not telling us?
An InformationWeek article about "machinima" -- using video game software to create original animated videos -- which features an animated rendition of the Dead Alewives' classic exposé of the shocking truth of what really happens at Dungeons and Dragons games. (Having attended a few of those myself, by the way, I can confirm that this shocking truth is, in fact, stunningly accurate.)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie trailer: I'll admit to having mixed feelings about the movie series, but they're sure making this one look cool.
Futurama vs. Doctor Who: Two shows separated at birth? You decide! (Warning: contains possible spoilers for both shows, including episodes of Who not yet aired in North America.)
Boomshine: A highly mesmerizing, surprisingly beautiful, very simple flash game. See how big a chain reaction you can make!
Pros and cons of the top 20 Democratic presidential candidates: I know a lot of people who would vote for Optimus Prime.
Speaking of politics, Vote Petrelli! Or, y'know, don't, because he's kind of an ass, plus he [Heroes spoilers deleted].
Knut videos: The Berlin Zoo presents insanely cute video footage of the insanely cute polar bear cub, Knut.
Repertory theater artist Mike Daisey had his notes destroyed by an asshole protester during a performance, then tracked the guy down and talked to him. This man is my new hero. This, folks, is how to be a human being.
Uncomfortable Questions: Was the Death Star Attack an Inside Job?: Exactly what is the Imperial government not telling us?
An InformationWeek article about "machinima" -- using video game software to create original animated videos -- which features an animated rendition of the Dead Alewives' classic exposé of the shocking truth of what really happens at Dungeons and Dragons games. (Having attended a few of those myself, by the way, I can confirm that this shocking truth is, in fact, stunningly accurate.)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie trailer: I'll admit to having mixed feelings about the movie series, but they're sure making this one look cool.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Warning: Science Content
In the wake of the recent discovery of a relatively Earth-like extrasolar planet, a friend of mine sent me an e-mail asking if I could explain how we know exactly how far away such a planet is. I was delighted to comply, because I'm always happy to be asked questions I actually know the answer to. And because it seems a shame to waste a good lecture, I figured I'd also post a (slightly edited) version here for the edification of the general public. Or at least for the handful of people who read this blog and don't already know this stuff.
So, how do we know how far away this interesting little world is?
The distances to relatively nearby stars (and thus to any planets they might have) is measured using parallax, which -- and you may already know this -- involves looking at an object from two different positions and measuring how it appears to move relative to a more distant background.
Parallax is a familiar phenomenon. If you hold out a finger and close first one eye, then the other eye, you'll see your finger appear to move relative to the wall behind it, because your eyes are a few centimeters apart. Likewise, as you drive down the road in a car, the nearby telephone poles seem to move much more quickly than the distant mountains. The reason why this works is best explained with a diagram, but my scanner seems to be broken, so I can't draw you one, and if I tried to do it in Paint, I think we'd all regret it. You can check out the Wikipedia entry on parallax, though. There's some diagrams there, as well as a much more technical explanation than you probably want. The short answer is that you're seeing the object from a different angle, and the difference is much bigger for things that are close to you than for things that are far away.
Now, because stars, even ones that are close by astronomical standards, are so far away, just moving a few feet, or even a few miles, isn't going to show you much change. What you can do, though, is to use the fact that the Earth moves around the sun to help you. The Earth is 93 million miles from the sun, and it revolves in a nearly circular orbit. This means that in July, Earth is 186 million miles away from where it is in December. (Because it moves in a near-circle with a radius of 93 million miles.) So, if you observe a star, and then observe it again six months later, you can see it move against the background of more distant objects (such as galaxies, which are very, very much farther away). Knowing the orbit of the Earth and observing the amount by which the star seems to shift, you can use some simple trigonometry to calculate the distance to the star.
There. Hopefully that makes sense.
So, how do we know how far away this interesting little world is?
The distances to relatively nearby stars (and thus to any planets they might have) is measured using parallax, which -- and you may already know this -- involves looking at an object from two different positions and measuring how it appears to move relative to a more distant background.
Parallax is a familiar phenomenon. If you hold out a finger and close first one eye, then the other eye, you'll see your finger appear to move relative to the wall behind it, because your eyes are a few centimeters apart. Likewise, as you drive down the road in a car, the nearby telephone poles seem to move much more quickly than the distant mountains. The reason why this works is best explained with a diagram, but my scanner seems to be broken, so I can't draw you one, and if I tried to do it in Paint, I think we'd all regret it. You can check out the Wikipedia entry on parallax, though. There's some diagrams there, as well as a much more technical explanation than you probably want. The short answer is that you're seeing the object from a different angle, and the difference is much bigger for things that are close to you than for things that are far away.
Now, because stars, even ones that are close by astronomical standards, are so far away, just moving a few feet, or even a few miles, isn't going to show you much change. What you can do, though, is to use the fact that the Earth moves around the sun to help you. The Earth is 93 million miles from the sun, and it revolves in a nearly circular orbit. This means that in July, Earth is 186 million miles away from where it is in December. (Because it moves in a near-circle with a radius of 93 million miles.) So, if you observe a star, and then observe it again six months later, you can see it move against the background of more distant objects (such as galaxies, which are very, very much farther away). Knowing the orbit of the Earth and observing the amount by which the star seems to shift, you can use some simple trigonometry to calculate the distance to the star.
There. Hopefully that makes sense.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Cat Swallows Pill! Film At Eleven!
My ASPCA Complete Cat Care Manual recommends having an accomplice if you have to give a pill to a cat, but then says, "If your cat is gentle and docile, you can give it a tablet without any assistance."
Hooray! It appears I have a gentle, docile cat! In fact, I think I may be prepared to go so far as to say that I have The Best Cat Ever.
Hooray! It appears I have a gentle, docile cat! In fact, I think I may be prepared to go so far as to say that I have The Best Cat Ever.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Speaking Of Animals...
For those of you who are interested in an update, I took Vir back to the vet today, since his breathing has, if anything, gotten worse rather than better. He doesn't seem to have any horrible attacks where he can't breathe or anything, but he spends a lot of the day sounding like he's stuffed up even though he appears to be snot-free, and there are times when he's unambiguously wheezing.
So the vet took some x-rays... His lungs mostly look good, but there was a bit of a white area on the x-ray the doctor wasn't too sure about. He still thinks it's probably asthma, though. So Mr. Catto now has more steroids (for if it is an allergic thing), and antibiotics (just in case there's an infection) and a bronchiodialator (to open up his airways). Oh, joy, oh joy... I get to feed him four doses of liquid and part of a pill every day.
If all that stuff doesn't help, they may want to look at his heart, although that may require equipment my vet doesn't even have. Man, I'm really hoping this'll do the trick.
So the vet took some x-rays... His lungs mostly look good, but there was a bit of a white area on the x-ray the doctor wasn't too sure about. He still thinks it's probably asthma, though. So Mr. Catto now has more steroids (for if it is an allergic thing), and antibiotics (just in case there's an infection) and a bronchiodialator (to open up his airways). Oh, joy, oh joy... I get to feed him four doses of liquid and part of a pill every day.
If all that stuff doesn't help, they may want to look at his heart, although that may require equipment my vet doesn't even have. Man, I'm really hoping this'll do the trick.
I'm A Wolf! Unless I'm Not.
This quiz, apparently, is part of a promo for the upcoming Golden Compass movie (an endeavor I have mixed feelings about, as I had issues with the book, and more issues with what I've heard the movie's doing with the book). Clicking on the graphic to "find your daemon" takes you to a flash-intensive site that'll try to get you to listen to several lectures about the movie-world's background while you keep clicking through to get to the quiz, but the site is very pretty, and the background's actually interesting, so it's less annoying than it might be. If you click on "is my daemon a match?" it'll ask you for opinions about my personality and possibly make changes to the type of animal. Which seems kind of cool. Just don't go telling it any lies about me, 'kay?
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Doctor Who Materializes Here This Summer
Because I know there are people reading this who are interested, a bit of news: The Sci Fi Channel is going to be showing the third season of the new Doctor Who starting in July. Being the impatient and obsessive type I am, I've already watched the four episodes that have aired in the UK thus far, and I'd say they range in quality from borderline brilliant to kind of dumb... but I love the new companion and think David Tennant is very much on form. My fellow Americans should definitely check it out!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I'm Just Gonna Keep Doing Stupid Memes And Quizzes 'Til I Think Of Something Clever To Say, OK?
 | My Fortune Cookie told me: Where there are visible vapors, having their prevenance in ignited carbonaceous materials, there is conflagration. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune |
You know, it sounds a lot more true when you put it that way.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
You Can Take The Woman Out Of South Jersey, But You Can't Take South Jersey Out Of The Woman.
What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net
Mid-Atlantic. This is what everyone calls a Philadelphia accent although it's also the accent of south Jersey, Baltimore, and Wilmington. Well, everyone that lives near there, that is. Outsiders can tell you talk differently from them even though they can't tell what your accent is.
Take this quiz now - it's easy!
That's actually really quite impressive. And also an answer to the occasional person from my old stomping grounds who's accused me of talking like a New Mexican now.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Well, I'll Try To Take It As One.
| You Are 4% Girly |
 Um... you're a guy, right? If not, you're the most boyish girl in the world. And for you, that's probably the ultimate compliment. |
Apparently I Am A Geek Up To My Forehead and Elbows.
This was a much better quiz than most of 'em, clearly designed by a true geek. I was terribly amused, though, by the ad that kept urging me to "meet single geeks in Socorro." As if you couldn't throw a stone here without hitting one...
Friday, April 20, 2007
Time Is An Illusion. Lunchtime Doubly So.
I've always understood intellectually that humans, like most critters on Earth, have an innate internal clock, and as someone who's worked rotating shifts of various kinds for over a decade now, I've had a lot of experience at tweaking and recalibrating mine. But it still surprises me how utterly, utterly surreal it feels when that mechanism gets truly and seriously messed with.
Now, I've been working nights the last month or so. This was to large extent my own choice, and I liked it just fine, but it is unusual for me to stay on any shift long enough that it starts to feel completely normal. But by last weekend -- two consecutive 8PM-8AM shifts -- I was so solidly adjusted to a nighttime schedule that the little clock in my brain was absolutely and completely certain that night was day, to the point where I kept thinking of it as day and half-expecting day-shift stuff to be happening. The fact that it was dark seemed irrelevant. Or rather, it seemed perfectly sensible: it's dark during the day, of course. It always is.
OK, that was weird enough. But then I got to the point where I had to think about switching back over to day shifts, which I'm starting on Monday. (Normally, I'd have another full week to make the transition, but I have to cover for someone who's going on vacation.) In the past, when I've needed to get myself off of night shift, I've usually done it by trying to shift backwards: waking myself up earlier so I'd be tired earlier. This is hard to do, though, most especially if you've been on nights long enough that your internal clock genuinely believes that bedtime isn't supposed to come before 8AM. Plus, it involves not getting enough sleep, for however many days it takes to accomplish the transition. The radical alternative is to do it the other way: to attempt to stay awake for something like 30 hours. This is faster, but it sucks, and attempting it often results in dropping of exhaustion around 2 PM and waking up in the middle of the night, which isn't quite the desired effect.
I was contemplating doing the latter, anyway, when it occurred to me: there's absolutely no reason I'd need to shift forward all at once. Having crammed in three days worth of work on the weekend, I only had 16 more hours I needed to put in somewhere, with it not really mattering when I showed up... which gave me a full week of flexible hours before I had to be ready for the day shift.
So, I've been rotating forward slowly. On Monday I went to sleep at 10 AM and woke up at 6 PM; Tuesday it was noon to 8, Wednesday 2-10, and today I fell asleep at 4 PM and woke up at midnight. At this rate, come Monday, I'll have wrapped myself around so I'm sleeping 10PM-6AM, which should be absolutely perfect.
I'm not sure if I recommend this method or not, though, because it's... did I use the word "surreal?" Being awake during the day after living nocturnally for so long is bizarre enough: I remember walking down the street at mid-morning on Wednesday feeling kind of freaked out by the fact that it was so bright and there were so many people and wondering at the fact that other humans could possibly consider this normal. I can't help but wonder if people who've just been released from prison -- or at least from dungeons -- feel the same way.
Anyway, that was weird enough, and having afternoons come at the end of my day is also weird enough, but the truly surreal thing is how my internal clock just seems to have given up and broken. I have no sense of time whatsoever now. I hadn't realized before just how much we define our days as divided by our sleep periods. Or rather, I had -- every shiftworker, I think, has the innate sense that it's not tomorrow until you've slept, no matter what the clock or the morning person who's relieving you think -- but I hadn't realized just how deeply that's embedded into our subconsciouses. I guess it's true that you don't ever properly appreciate things until you have to do without them. Because I find that I honestly can't remember whether something happened today or yesterday, for any definitions of "today" and "yesterday" at all. There's no sense of "before I slept last" being a different period than "after I slept last," and, man, that doesn't sound terribly disturbing when I write it out like that, but, believe me, it's disconcerting. Everything runs together into a big, undefined temporal blur. And I have to keep looking at clocks and calendars to figure out things I really ought to know intuitively, like how long I've been awake and what day of the week it is and whether it's morning or night.
It's a fascinating personal experiment, really, which is why I've rambled about it at such length (and probably bored the crap out of anybody who isn't me). If nothing else, it's given me a greater appreciation of how much that internal clock normally does for us, not to mention a more visceral understanding of the cyclical nature of time. It's also proving quite successful... Staying awake an extra couple of hours each day is easy enough -- much easier than trying to go to bed earlier -- and I'm getting plenty of sleep and remaining a productive human being, even if I'm being productive at odd hours. But I really don't think I'm going to make a regular habit out of this.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's almost 2 AM. I think I should probably be getting ready for work.
Now, I've been working nights the last month or so. This was to large extent my own choice, and I liked it just fine, but it is unusual for me to stay on any shift long enough that it starts to feel completely normal. But by last weekend -- two consecutive 8PM-8AM shifts -- I was so solidly adjusted to a nighttime schedule that the little clock in my brain was absolutely and completely certain that night was day, to the point where I kept thinking of it as day and half-expecting day-shift stuff to be happening. The fact that it was dark seemed irrelevant. Or rather, it seemed perfectly sensible: it's dark during the day, of course. It always is.
OK, that was weird enough. But then I got to the point where I had to think about switching back over to day shifts, which I'm starting on Monday. (Normally, I'd have another full week to make the transition, but I have to cover for someone who's going on vacation.) In the past, when I've needed to get myself off of night shift, I've usually done it by trying to shift backwards: waking myself up earlier so I'd be tired earlier. This is hard to do, though, most especially if you've been on nights long enough that your internal clock genuinely believes that bedtime isn't supposed to come before 8AM. Plus, it involves not getting enough sleep, for however many days it takes to accomplish the transition. The radical alternative is to do it the other way: to attempt to stay awake for something like 30 hours. This is faster, but it sucks, and attempting it often results in dropping of exhaustion around 2 PM and waking up in the middle of the night, which isn't quite the desired effect.
I was contemplating doing the latter, anyway, when it occurred to me: there's absolutely no reason I'd need to shift forward all at once. Having crammed in three days worth of work on the weekend, I only had 16 more hours I needed to put in somewhere, with it not really mattering when I showed up... which gave me a full week of flexible hours before I had to be ready for the day shift.
So, I've been rotating forward slowly. On Monday I went to sleep at 10 AM and woke up at 6 PM; Tuesday it was noon to 8, Wednesday 2-10, and today I fell asleep at 4 PM and woke up at midnight. At this rate, come Monday, I'll have wrapped myself around so I'm sleeping 10PM-6AM, which should be absolutely perfect.
I'm not sure if I recommend this method or not, though, because it's... did I use the word "surreal?" Being awake during the day after living nocturnally for so long is bizarre enough: I remember walking down the street at mid-morning on Wednesday feeling kind of freaked out by the fact that it was so bright and there were so many people and wondering at the fact that other humans could possibly consider this normal. I can't help but wonder if people who've just been released from prison -- or at least from dungeons -- feel the same way.
Anyway, that was weird enough, and having afternoons come at the end of my day is also weird enough, but the truly surreal thing is how my internal clock just seems to have given up and broken. I have no sense of time whatsoever now. I hadn't realized before just how much we define our days as divided by our sleep periods. Or rather, I had -- every shiftworker, I think, has the innate sense that it's not tomorrow until you've slept, no matter what the clock or the morning person who's relieving you think -- but I hadn't realized just how deeply that's embedded into our subconsciouses. I guess it's true that you don't ever properly appreciate things until you have to do without them. Because I find that I honestly can't remember whether something happened today or yesterday, for any definitions of "today" and "yesterday" at all. There's no sense of "before I slept last" being a different period than "after I slept last," and, man, that doesn't sound terribly disturbing when I write it out like that, but, believe me, it's disconcerting. Everything runs together into a big, undefined temporal blur. And I have to keep looking at clocks and calendars to figure out things I really ought to know intuitively, like how long I've been awake and what day of the week it is and whether it's morning or night.
It's a fascinating personal experiment, really, which is why I've rambled about it at such length (and probably bored the crap out of anybody who isn't me). If nothing else, it's given me a greater appreciation of how much that internal clock normally does for us, not to mention a more visceral understanding of the cyclical nature of time. It's also proving quite successful... Staying awake an extra couple of hours each day is easy enough -- much easier than trying to go to bed earlier -- and I'm getting plenty of sleep and remaining a productive human being, even if I'm being productive at odd hours. But I really don't think I'm going to make a regular habit out of this.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's almost 2 AM. I think I should probably be getting ready for work.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Laugh of the Day
Loyal reader Andrew Ironwood sent me a link in the comments to this cartoon, and I thought it was far too funny not to share. Well, at least, it's funny if you're into role-playing and watch Lost. I can't be the only person here who fits into both categories, can I?
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